Politics, Legal & Regulation

May 8, 2017 @ 3:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Choice Act is a valiant effort to address the profound shortcomings of the Dodd-Frank law. Dodd-Frank has been lambasted as regulatory overreach driven by politicians that really don’t quite understand what they are doing. At worst, Dodd-Frank has institutionalized too big to fail…. Read More

May 8, 2017 @ 8:21 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Last week Financial Innovation Now (FIN), an alliance of companies which includes Fintech behemoths innovator Amazon, Apple, Google, Intuit and PayPal, spoke out against language used in the Financial CHOICE Act that would repeal debit swipe fee reform. In a letter penned by FIN Executive Director Brian… Read More

May 8, 2017 @ 12:01 am By Erin Hobey  |  

The growth prospects of SMEs are being potentially stalled due to late payments, according to new research of over 1,000 SMEs commissioned by Crossflow Payments, the Fintech platform delivering supply chain finance solutions. “Brexit is increasing the issue of late payments and reducing investment by… Read More

May 7, 2017 @ 12:11 pm By Jonathan Nieh  |  

On May 3, 2017, the SEC released its proposed amendments to the Investment Advisers Act (the Advisers Act) to reflect changes made under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (the FAST Act). The FAST Act, which was passed in 2015, amended sections 203(l) and 203(m) of… Read More

May 5, 2017 @ 5:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published the agenda for the May 10 meeting of its Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies (ACSEC). At this meeting, ACSEC will discuss the underwriting of small offerings and will receive updates from SEC staff about the… Read More

May 4, 2017 @ 4:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

Jay Clayton was sworn into office today by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. Clayton will join the SEC as the 32nd Chairman of the Commission. “It is a tremendous honor to lead the SEC and to be sworn in by Justice Kennedy, whom I… Read More

May 4, 2017 @ 9:41 am By JD Alois  |  

Adena Friedman, CEO of NASDAQ, has published an Op-Ed on WSJ.com. Her topic of discussion is the challenging IPO market in the US. This is a frequent issue of debate as the decline of IPOs has been going on for years. Both elected and appointed… Read More

May 3, 2017 @ 3:06 pm By Therese Torris  |  

Since the beginning of this year, the German government has undertaken a review of the crowdinvesting regulation introduced in July 2015. It has now officially released its conclusions and is proposing several changes to the existing law, including a most controversial exclusion of real estate… Read More

May 3, 2017 @ 11:50 am By JD Alois  |  

Jay Clayton was confirmed by the US Senate last night to become the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Clayton will become a member of the Commission for a term ending June 5, 2021. The vote in favor of Clayton’s nomination came in at… Read More

May 3, 2017 @ 11:37 am By JD Alois  |  

The Comptroller of the Currency, Thomas J. Curry, will step down on May 5, 2017, according to a release by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Curry will be replaced by Keith A. Noreika who will serve as Acting Comptroller of the Currency until… Read More

April 28, 2017 @ 5:20 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, Crowdfunder UK reported that more political candidates are excepted to crowdfund their election campaign in the snap general election. The crowdfunding platform revealed that just a little over a week since the election, projects on its website have raised £200,000 in the politics category…. Read More

April 28, 2017 @ 11:52 am By JD Alois  |  

“That ability to adapt and evolve to meet the changing needs of customers and the marketplace is as critical” Thomas Curry, the Comptroller of the Currency, delivered a speech today at Kellogg School of Management in Chicago. The speech comes at an interesting time as… Read More

April 28, 2017 @ 9:41 am By JD Alois  |  

  Last week, the government of Ireland announced a Public Consultation on the Regulation of Crowdfunding. Currently, crowdfunding is not a regulated activity in Ireland. The Irish Minister for finance, Michael Noonan T.D. commented on the consultation; “Ensuring that the development of this exciting and… Read More

April 28, 2017 @ 8:46 am By JD Alois  |  

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), a US organization of state bank regulators, filed a complaint against teh Comptroller of the Currency in the US district court of Columbia this week. The action was against the much debated Fintech Charter that was launched to… Read More

April 27, 2017 @ 2:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has sued four online lenders for collecting debt from consumers they allegedly did not owe. The four lenders include: Golden Valley Lending, Inc., Silver Cloud Financial, Inc., Mountain Summit Financial, Inc., and Majestic Lake Financial, Inc. – The suit… Read More

April 27, 2017 @ 10:22 am By JD Alois  |  

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was created out of the ashes of the Great Recession. A knee jerk-reaction crafted by elected officials attempting to fix what went wrong, the controversial agency has since earned much criticism while having its structure deemed unconstitutional. At a… Read More

April 27, 2017 @ 8:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Jamal El Mallouki, CrowdDesk CEO and current Chair of the German Crowdfunding Association (Bundesverband Crowdfunding), wants to boost the German crowdfunding market and affiliated regulatory framework. To improve the crowdfunding ecosystem, El Mallouki and the Association have published three concrete proposals for policymakers to pursue. In… Read More

April 27, 2017 @ 7:01 am By Erin Hobey  |  

US state regulators have filed a lawsuit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, upping the ante in an increasingly bitter dispute over the federal agency’s plans to offer bank charter status to qualifying fintech firms, according to a release. The complaint, lodged by… Read More

April 26, 2017 @ 2:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

The California intrastate crowdfunding bill (AB 1517) took another step in the direction of becoming an actual law yesterday.  On Tuesday, April 25th, the bill was green-lighted by the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee. Next up is the Assembly Appropriations Committee. A hearing on the AB… Read More

April 25, 2017 @ 2:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

SEC Advisory Committee On Small And Emerging Companies (ACSEC) has scheduled a meeting for May 10, 2017. The ACSEC meeting will commence at 9:30AM and will take place at the SEC Headquarters. The public is invited to these meetings but the SEC typically live-streams the… Read More